%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1428526162081281500%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.%%[[quoteright:260:[[Website/{{Cracked}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3d99e27ead0de155d97f38deae91cdb4.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:260:[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Your_Brain_on_Drugs "Any questions?"]]]]

->''"I take Quaaludes 10 to 15 times a day for my 'back pain', Adderall to stay focused, Xanax to take the edge off, pot to mellow me out, cocaine to wake me back up again, and morphine, well, because it's awesome."''-->-- Jordan Belfort, ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet''

DrugsAreBad, right? They're dangerous. You can get addicted. You could overdose. They have harmful side effects. You could bankrupt yourself, ruin your career, catch diseases from dirty needles. Drugs are bad!

But what if they aren't bad?

Maybe you take a drug and you feel really awesome. Maybe drugs lighten your bad mood. Maybe they make life more exciting. Maybe spiking the punch makes the WildTeenParty a lot more fun. Drugs are good! (OK, probably not.)

As the title indicates, Drugs Are Good is the inverse of DrugsAreBad. This trope is for instances in fiction and creative works where the use of drugs and alcohol is portrayed in a positive light. Drugs Are Good is most frequently seen with cigarettes and alcohol, which have always been more or less socially acceptable. It also may accompany depictions of marijuana use, given the common perception of marijuana as a less harmful drug than other illegal drugs. Invocations of Drugs Are Good with harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin are rarer, but not unknown; both drugs used to be legal and used medicinally and recreationally until the 1920s. LSD can sometimes be depicted as such, where it's used as [[HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs a tool for greater understanding]] and making things look more colorful.

Many {{Stoner Flick}}s are examples of this. OdeToIntoxication is the musical equivalent, if it's played straight. Related tropes include DrunkenMaster (getting drunk/stoned makes you better at something) and SmokingIsCool (which is about signaling a ''character'' is cool but does involve a positive portrayal of smoking).

Compare with HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs, which isn't so much "drugs are good" (it's often depicted as a creepy or forceful effect) as "drugs are useful".

The FunctionalAddict may believe this but they really aren't an example. The SmugStraightEdge or the DryCrusader may pop up in a Drugs Are Good work. This trope may get paired with DrugsAreBad in a work that shows the "good" side of drugs but then pivots to DrugsAreBad to show the consequences.

----!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Advertising ]]

* Most every commercial or print advertisement for beer and alcohol is this. A commercial can't tell you how the beer tastes, but it can show you some cool-looking people holding beer at a party.* Cigarette advertisements did this as well before government regulations drove them from the air. Camel cigarettes, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnKLpO9qhOE preferred by doctors]]! The Marlboro Man remained in print ads as an example of masculinity until 1999.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Being an expy of Creator/HunterSThompson, Spider Jerusalem of ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' does all his best writing on drugs. Makes his assistants take up smoking at the very least (cancer is curable). Though he does go on the occasional binge where he's too out of it to do anything.* Creator/GrantMorrison is extremely fond of this trope, as well as [[HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs character drug use]] [[DrugsAreBad in general]]:** In ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'', the main character ingests LSD, which briefly [[HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs opens his eyes]] to the fact that he is in a comic book.** ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'' ends with Lex Luthor incoherently trying to explain a psychedelic experience brought on by [[spoiler:his newfound Kryptonian powers]], which [[spoiler:causes him to undergo a pivotal HeelFaceTurn at the end.]]* Subverted somewhat in ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'', in which Finch is able to track down the titular terrorist by "getting into his head"- i.e., taking LSD.** That said, AlanMoore plays this straight in several of his works, especially his ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' run. The hallucinogenic tubers that grow out of the titular character's back help several characters achieve HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs, though it's suggested that the tubers act as more of a "cosmic litmus paper" that make life a living hell for any ''bad'' people who eat them.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Creator/CharlieChaplin liked this trope.** In ''Film/TheCure'', Charlie's an alcoholic trying to dry out at a health spa. His stash of liquor is discovered and thrown out--into the well that guests at the spa drink mineral water from. A really fun-looking party ensues.** In ''Film/EasyStreet'', Charlie sits on a cocaine syringe. The jolt of energy he gets helps him to rescue the LoveInterest and beat up a gang of thugs.** Similarly, in ''Film/ModernTimes'', Charlie winds up accidentally ingesting some cocaine that another prisoner hid in a salt shaker. It helps him foil a jailbreak.* As noted above, many (but not all) {{Stoner Flick}}s are this. The ''Harold and Kumar'' series, where a heartwarming moment is Kumar's girlfriend [[Film/AVeryHaroldAndKumar3DChristmas telling him to use her pee to beat drug tests]], is a good example.--> '''Kumar''': But weed is ''so good''. It gets you high!* ''Film/TheMysteryOfTheLeapingFish'' is a very strange short film from 1916 starring Douglas Fairbanks as a private detective named [[PunnyName Coke Ennyday]] who really, really likes cocaine. Possibly a satirical take on Literature/SherlockHolmes, he is constantly shooting up with cocaine and laughing like a maniac. He defeats the bad guys by jabbing them with cocaine syringes until they're as high as he is.* ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}''. Diane and Steven Freeling are shown smoking a marijuana cigarette together and having a great time.* ''Film/TheThinMan'' and its sequels. Nick Charles drinks and drinks and drinks, and it appears to do nothing but make him more witty and charming.* In the film ''Mac and Devin Go to High School'' the CG joint narrator filibusters about how weed is good and should be legalized. In the story proper, weed is also what helps the valedictorian finally relax and enjoy his life.* ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'': Bender brings some grass he had stashed in his school locker and the kids have an eighties montage over smoking it in the school library during detention.* Played with in {{Biopic}} satire ''Film/WalkHard''. Dewey Cox does in fact have drug problems that force him into rehab. But his bandmate Sam, who introduces him to each drug in turn as a RunningGag, seems to have no problem with drugs other than resenting Dewey for never paying for them. And Sam gets off an epic defense of marijuana.--> '''Sam''': No, Dewey, you don't want this. Get outta here!--> '''Dewey Cox''': You know what, I don't want no hangover. I can't get no hangover.--> '''Sam''': It ''doesn't'' give you a hangover!--> '''Dewey''': Wha-I get addicted to it or something?--> '''Sam''': It's ''not habit-forming!''--> '''Dewey''': Oh, okay...well, I don't know...I don't want to overdose on it.--> '''Sam''': You ''can't OD on it!''--> '''Dewey''': It's not gonna make me wanna have sex, is it?--> '''Sam''': It makes sex ''even better!''--> '''Dewey''': Sounds kind of expensive.--> '''Sam''': It's the ''cheapest drug there is''.* The [[TheSeventies 1971]] {{Documentary}} film ''Aphrodisiac: The Sexual Secret of Marijuana'' is a dramatization of the benefits of smoking marijuana. It chronicles how smoking pot improved the sex lives of many couples and the film also presents the medicinal benefits of marijuana.* Contrary to popular belief, ''Film/DazedAndConfused'' does NOT have this message. While we see several characters smoking pot throughout the film, only one (Slater) is a full-blown stoner. And the negative effect frequent pot smoking has had on his mental health is very obvious.* This dialog in ''Film/{{Caddyshack}}'':--> '''Ty''': You take drugs, Danny?--> '''Danny''': Every day.--> '''Ty''': Good. Then what's your problem?--> '''Danny''': I don't know.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'' is Tom Wolfe's account of Creator/KenKesey and his bus full of hippies going on a road trip across America, dropping acid and enjoying themselves. (Well, mostly.)* ''Literature/DownAndOutInTheMagicKingdom'': Since addiction is easily cured and health consequences don't mean much to immortals, there are casual in-passing references to the main character's girlfriend smoking crack.* ''Literature/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'': The epic, VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory tale of Creator/HunterSThompson's drug-fueled adventures in Las Vegas. The preface quotes Samuel Johnson: "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." The book is about Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo (Thompson's avatars for himself and Oscar Acosta) indulging in copious amounts of drugs in order to escape the decline of American culture and the failure of the counterculture movement.--> (first line) "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold..."** Could be read both ways. Thompson brutally mocks police efforts to come to grips with drug culture and the War on Drugs, but Duke and Dr. Gonzo cross the line so many times that it's a miracle they both escape Las Vegas. Lampshaded by Duke, who notes they've gone to such excess that no one could possibly believe it.* Iain M Bank's ''Literature/TheCulture'' novels have all narcotics and recreational drugs available to the entire population. Since, in that setting, you can sober up instantly if you have to and all medical problems are pretty much instantly curable too, they are just another fun way to pass the day. * ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' speaks about smoking pipe-weed (presumably, the our world equivalent is Nicotiana rustica, a.k.a. mopacho tobacco, but [[EpilepticTrees other theories abound]]) and drinking ale as good things. Elves don't smoke and prefer wine but they also brew cordials that save you in the middle of a blizzard.* ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' talks about the delights of hashish, and claims he uses it to sleep at will. At the end he uses it to [[spoiler:heighten Maximilian's suicidal depression, before revealing that Valentine was still alive, so as to give Maximilian an understanding of his own happiness]].* Creator/HPLovecraft had hashish as a helpful adjunct to exploring the Dreamlands in the short story "Celephais". * Creator/LordDunsany may have inspired Lovecraft with his story "The Hashish Man", where a man tells the narrator of "Bethmoora" that he's been there too, by taking hashish.* In John Crowley's magic-realism novel ''Little, Big'', George Mouse owns a huge crumbling old New York townhouse with a basement full of commercially packaged hashish bars. The building had once housed a Lebanese grocery, at a time when hashish was sold legally and openly as penny candy.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

* ''Series/MadMen'' has multiple examples of this. Peggy Olson lights up a joint more than once and always enjoys herself. Roger Sterling takes LSD, loves it, and tries to get his friends to do it too. (On the other hand, the series has always taken a dark view of [[TheAlcoholic alcohol abuse]].)** Season 1 provides a meta example, as Don is trying to come up with an advertising campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes.* ''Series/{{Workaholics}}'': The show is full of drug use, and while the guys mostly just drink and smoke weed, they also take shrooms, and drop acid. They shy away from harder drugs (Adam says they're not his cup of tea), and Blake denounces huffing nitrous as 'hippy crack'. While the guys themselves are presented as losers, it doesn't have that much to do with their substance problems.* ''Series/{{Spaced}}'': Recreational drug use is a) rather prominent and b) not a big deal.* ''Series/TheLWord'': Most of the cast is shown using some form of marijuana at various points, and Shane even dabbles in harder drugs, to no ill effect.* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'': Various cases are solved with the assistance of narcotics, Olivia Dunham spends much of the pilot on homemade LSD in a sensory deprivation tank, Walter is constantly using psychotropics (on himself and others), and one of his former test subjects, while decidedly loopy as a result of her LSD-induced trances, is entirely happy and expresses her gratitude to Walter years later - with a kiss.** Walter uses a bong, which is still pretty rare on American network television. And Episode 3x19 is called "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide". That's LSD, kids. Astrid is the ''only'' member of the central cast who hasn't been under the influence of drugs onscreen at some point.* Episode 1-4 of ''Series/ChappellesShow'' featured a parody of the TRUTH.com [[PublicServiceAnnouncement anti-smoking PSAs]] ("TRUF.com") in which the announcer says that cigarette smoking causes "feelings of euphoria, increased alertness, rises in short-term memory, and can have [[CigaretteOfAnxiety a calming effect on nerves]]."--> '''Dave''': And they're not bad after [[SmokingHotSex unprotected sex with multiple partners]], neither.* ''Series/BoredToDeath'': It's probably easier to count the number of episodes in which the main characters are not smoking pot. Sometimes the character may become an EruditeStoner while under the influence.--> '''Jonathan''': I still ''like the way pot makes me think'' - maybe ''it's healthy''.--> '''Suzanne''': Pot is not healthy.--> '''Jonathan''': ''They give it to cancer patients''.--> '''Suzanne''': You don't have cancer.--> '''Jonathan''': Not yet... * The cops of ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' bust a drug dealer named Joe. Joe admits that he's guilty, but takes exception to being called a drug ''pusher''.--> '''Joe''': Dude, drugs don’t need pushing. They push themselves. ''People love drugs''.* ''Series/SexAndTheCity'': The [[TheStoner girls often smoke pot]] and none of them resemble the unglamorous example of a marijuana smoker.** In "Defining Moments", Samantha fondly recalls having [[AThreesomeIsHot two girl, one guy threesomes]] on Quaaludes:-->'''Samantha''': I've [[GirlOnGirlIsHot done the girl thing]] - once, twice, usually involved a guy and a couple of Quaaludes. It was nice really, and really nice for the guy.* ''Series/BarneyMiller'' had the detectives unintentionally ingesting hash baked into brownies by Wojo's girlfriend. It's played as cute and funny, and in Fish's case positively beneficial.--> '''Fish.''' The first time in twenty years I felt really good -- and it has to be illegal!

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music ]]

* Replace all instances of the word "chocolate" with "marijuana" in Music/{{The 1975}}'s "Chocolate", and [[http://rock.rapgenius.com/The-1975-chocolate-lyrics it makes incredible sense]].* Most of ''Music/{{Hawkwind}}'''s output. ''Motorhead'' is about doing speed. Famously, its author and lead singer Lemmy Kilminster was later thrown out of the band for doing too much of it and took the song with him. ''Hashcake 77'' is an instrumental which manages to convey the way it feels when doing dope. You can ''feel'' righteously stoned just listening to it. * Music/JeffersonAirplane's "White Rabbit" about a young girl who chases a rabbit one day and gets experimental with things that make her larger and smaller, whilst encountering caterpillars smoking hookahs and self-willed chess pieces and a talking dormouse. Hmmm. (It's a WholePlotReference to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'').--> "FEED YOUR HEAD, FEED YOUR HEAD"* Music/TheMoodyBlues recorded ''Legend of a Mind'', a paean of praise to American drugs pioneer psychologist Dr Timothy Leary, who (along with some other psychiatrists at the time) advocated that LSD could be used under controlled medical supervision to heal many forms of mental illness. Leary was repeatedly jailed by the US authorities for his beliefs and made ''persona non grata'' in American academia. His record album ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhgJsg2mMeQ The Psychedelic Experience]]'' is designed to be listened to during a HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs LSD session, what used to be called "mind tripping".* Very common in {{Reggae}}, since the genre is practically inseparable from the Rastafari religion, which encourages the use of marijuana to aid meditation.* Music/PeterTosh was particularly blatant about it. His first solo album, titled ''Music/LegalizeIt'', had a cover photo of Tosh sitting in a field full of weed, smoking a pipe. The title track is a long list of reasons why ganja is awesome, set to music.--> Legalize it, and I will advertise it.* The Shamen's ''Ebeneezer Goode''. The chorus goes "'Eezer Goode! 'Eezer Goode! He's Ebeneezer Goode!" Now think of it phonetically. [[spoiler: Es are good! Es are good!]]* Brandy Clark's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUSolxv9EUM Get High]]" tells of how smoking pot helps a woman get by.* The Sons of Champlin's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oznLE22KILQ Get High]]", initially released on the ''Loosen Up Naturally'' album in 1969, advises the listener that tripping alone helps you understand your true inner nature.* "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Drugs Are Good]]" by NOFX is a partial subversion, because though it repeatedly claims "DrugsAreGood" the reasons its give seem, in many places, to actually be reasons why DrugsAreBad. Notable, because NOFX is generally very pro-drugs (but also very pro-SelfDeprecatingHumor).--> ''Drugs are good''--> ''They make you do things that you know you not should''--> ''And when you do 'em people think that you're cool''--> ''And when you do 'em people think that you're cool''* [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Stewie & Brian Griffin]]'s "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BukUZ2FCvs A Bag Of Weed]]". * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBzQRg_vyBI Granny won't you smoke some]], Granny won't you smoke some...* In "Downtown" by Music/LadyAntebellum, the main protagonist and her significant other smoke pot as a part of their quality time:--> "We used to smoke while we were [[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jaywalk&defid=2201669 jaywalking]] like it was your birthday every other Saturday night"* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdfqzuQ8j5I Weed Instead Roses]]" by Ashley Monroe raves about marijuana being great as a [[ButLiquorIsQuicker sex drug]].* Music/BlackSabbath's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5_eoB7v5R8 Sweet Leaf]]" is a pro-marijuana song, and opens with a loop of Tommy Iommi coughing immediately after taking a hit. "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g33wjg9IbhM Snowblind]]" is a pro-cocaine song.* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxWjtWONuGc Smoke A Little Smoke]]" by Music/EricChurch.* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdyrphxqtBc Marijuana]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BapI6zOlBCY Bass Strings]]" by Country Joe and the Fish.* A good number of songs by sludge metal supergroup Music/{{Down}} are about the joys of pot smoking. A possible subversion, since quite a few of them amount to "I'm a loser, so I'll smoke pot to bring just a little bit of joy into my life."* Music/TomLehrer's "The Old Dope Peddler", from his debut album ''Music/SongsByTomLehrer'', is a sentimental tribute to a neighborhood drug dealer who "do(es) well by doing good." The trope is {{played for laughs}} and shock value, the latter especially since it was recorded early in TheFifties. It was a satire of the 1946 tune "The Old Lamp Lighter".* AmbiguousSyntax: Cindy Margolis sings about having sex on cocaine in "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boBwLh8YTDc Sexy Soda Pop]]".* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3LD0zc5jzc Rails]]" by Music/DavidAllanCoe.* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD-8QXLq-ss Smokin' and Drinkin']]" by Music/MirandaLambert is a pot smoking song.* ''The Orange County Rolling Acres Senior Center Cannabis Club'' by Music/RoyZimmerman is all about how the residents of the titular senior center have a lot more fun with life thanks to having access to marijuana.* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8j2ej5jqQw "White Horse"]] by Laid Back is pro-cocaine but [[DrugsAreBad anti-heroin]].* And let's not forget Music/TheBeatles and their amazing technicolor output. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etN0h_e5rvI Tomorrow Never Knows]] (lyrics adapted from Leary's ''The Psychedelic Experience''), "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQK-UcRezE Strawberry Fields Forever]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaJWdp6NT1U Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HNFqz2VkgA She Said, She Said]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpE6RDofFW8 I Am The Walrus]]", [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtHkW97AJk8 "Norwegian Wood"]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGdyvj58B_U "Got To Get You Into My Life"]] and on and on.** Based on her lustful cooing and [[MatingDance dance moves]] while singing [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTf8j9lu40Y this cover]] of their [[WordOfGod pro-pot]] "Got To Get You Into My Life", Cheryl Ladd touts marijuana as a [[ButLiquorIsQuicker good sex drug]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Stand Up Comedy ]]

* Despite being a former drug user for much of his career, Creator/BillHicks was a big believer in this. He stated in his act that he believed marijuana use should be not just legal but mandatory, and he also advocated liberal use of psychedelics.* Creator/GeorgeCarlin credited mescaline, marijuana, and LSD for their positive effects on his life. Averted with opiates and cocaine, though, which he condemned for the damage they did to his health and wallet.--> The first time I tried cocaine, I felt like a new man! ... And the first thing this new man wanted -- was more cocaine!

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* ''TabletopGame/PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution'': With a few notable exceptions, drugs either have positive effects on espers or at least have benefits that outweigh the costs.** The Zodiac Order also has this outlook on drugs in general.** Breaks in the book’s text often have little pictures of pills in them.** ''Tomorrow's Starlight'' details a character experiencing a very pleasant trip at a concert and most of the characters use drugs and alcohol frequently.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheConsumingShadow'', srynges of an unidentified "recreational narcotic" are your Bulwark Against the Terror; the one non-random event thing that can restore your SanityMeter. It's a good idea to save a dose for your confrontation with whatever EldritchAbomination is trying to eat the world this playthrough.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomic ]]

* ''Webcomic/AmongTheChosen'': Hardcore stimulants are used often and explicitly. It is implied that the Addicaine commanders have the option of using heavy duty combat drugs to bring their troops up to battle ready status.* ''Webcomic/Persona2Win'': The main character constantly takes unidentified pills when he is angered (which is a lot) too keep himself from killing the idiots around him. * Kinda-sorta in the case of Gamzee from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. If he isn't stoned off his gourd, he remembers that he's a descendant of the subjuggulators. And bad things happen.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Video ]]

* ''WebVideo/TheHookerWithAHeartOfGold'': The Hooker's cocaine habit [[DrunkenMaster only seems to make her stronger]], and Dr Rogen theorizes that it might make the heart work more efficiently.* ''[[LetsPlay/TacoMan Taco-Man: The Game Master]]'' teaches that cocaine makes an effective anti-depressant at the end of the fourth episode.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Websites ]]

* ''Website/{{Erowid}}'', which [[http://www.erowid.org is intended to be a neutral reference]] cataloging drugs and their effects, has a lot of DrugsAreBad ("Addiction," "Difficult Experiences," "Train Wrecks and Trip Disasters") but also has its share of Drugs Are Good ("Glowing Experiences" and "Health" have stories like this).* ''Quaaludebottle.com'', has [[http://quaaludebottle.com/stories.html "Quaalude Stories"]] in which Baby Boomers and first wave Gen Xers fondly recall getting high on ludes during the [[TheSeventies seventies]] and [[TheEighties early eighties]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In the "420" episode, Brian starts a campaign to legalize marijuana and Mayor Adam West signs a bill that makes it legal in Quahog and [[EverybodyMustGetStoned everyone starts smoking pot]]. The town's overall quality of life improves as a result.* Generally the message in ''WesternAnimation/MajorLazer,'' mainly regarding pot.